Concurrent Budget Resolution on the Budget, Fiscal Year 2014

Floor Speech

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CHILDREN'S BUDGET

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask to be recognized to engage in a colloquy with my good friend from Washington, the chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Murray.

I want to commend the chairman's tireless efforts on this budget resolution. She has done the yeomen's work in crafting a document that reflects the values of our caucus in a balanced and pragmatic way. This stands in sharp contrast to the polarizing and ideologically driven budget our friends in the House passed earlier this week. As you know I have introduced legislation in the last three Congresses to create what I call the "children's budget.'' This bill would require that the executive branch agencies include in their annual budget request to Congress a detailed analysis on children's programs. This analysis would include a breakdown of the appropriations, spending levels, and obligational authority and outlays for each program specifically targeted towards children or that serve children as a major component of their mission. Importantly, this would include an analysis not only of the fiscal year for which the budget request is being made, but also the previous and current fiscal years, to provide the Budget Committees and the Appropriations Committees with a comprehensive look at how funding is affecting the youngest Americans.

I have filed an amendment to this concurrent resolution that seeks to address this very issue by encouraging the Appropriations Committees to request the analysis of children's programs contingent on the agencies' funding. However, I understand through conversations with the Senate Parliamentarian and others that indicate such an amendment might not comport with the strict requirements and procedures of a budget resolution. Is this the chairman's understanding as well?

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SEC. 3__. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND TO MAKE COMPREHENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS TO MEDICARE HOSPITAL WAGE-RELATED PAYMENTS.

The Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate may revise the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in this resolution for one or more bills, joint resolutions, amendments, motions, or conference reports that would adjust Medicare payments for hospitals, which may include adjustments to reflect area differences in wage levels, by the amounts provided in such legislation for those purposes, provided that such legislation would not increase the deficit over either the period of the total of fiscal years 2013 through 2018 or the period of the total of fiscal years 2013 through 2023.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, this is a side-by-side to Senator Coburn's amendment, and while I stand in strong opposition to the underlying amendment of Senator Coburn, I do recognize the need for a comprehensive examination to the current Medicare wage index system. HHS and MedPAC and others have issued detailed reports highlighting that very fact, showing that the current system is full of special add-ons, reclassifications, and other provisions that distort the overall system.

In essence, that amendment would create such harm in so many hospitals across this Nation from Alaska to New Hampshire, to Nevada, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Rhode Island, just to mention a few. Our effort is to look at this comprehensively. We need to look at the entire Medicare hospital wage index system. We should not pick out one small provision that does so much harm to so many hospitals across the country instead of addressing the system as a whole.

I am joined in this with Senator Warren, Senator Cowan, and Senator Lautenberg, among others, and I urge my colleagues to support the side-by-side amendment so we can address this in a comprehensive and responsible way.

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The amendment (No. 359) was rejected.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. BOXER. I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

AMENDMENT NO. 705

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is now 2 minutes equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment No. 705, offered by the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Menendez.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, is my amendment called up, No. 705?

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment is pending.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, this side-by-side with Senator Sessions is very straightforward. It restates current law. Let me repeat that. It restates current law, which already explicitly excludes undocumented immigrants who are in this country from obtaining benefits such as tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies when obtaining health insurance coverage.

We debated this policy at length during health care reform, and this exemption was included in the final bill to address concerns of some of our Republican colleagues that undocumented immigrants would somehow be able to receive the benefits we included in the law. That is why we specifically and explicitly excluded them from being able to gain this type of coverage.

Finally, addressing the issues of immigrant families is currently being done in a bipartisan fashion. The last thing we need to do in this budget process is to try to muck that up.

This is not a great way to do your outreach to the Hispanic and immigrant community. I urge our colleagues just to stay with present law. Let's restate it once again, support our amendment, and reject the Sessions amendment.

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Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, nothing changes present law, and nothing is contemplated to change--which I think the Group of 8 wouldn't mind me saying--what the Senator is concerned about in our negotiations. It would have to come before this body before, in fact, it could be changed.

The current law is very clear. They do not have access to any of the benefits that the Senator is worried about because present law prohibits an undocumented immigrant from having access to those benefits. That is why this is unnecessary. It is just the need of some to have an immigration amendment.

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Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, this amendment would allow for better coordination of our flood mitigation programs to meet the unmet needs of victims of disaster.

As homeowners along the Jersey Shore seek to recover from Superstorm Sandy, they are not just faced with the task of rebuilding, they also have to comply with new, incredibly costly elevation requirements. Seniors who have lived in their modest homes their entire lives now face tens of thousands of dollars in unanticipated costs, all in addition to the costs of rebuilding. And while there are Federal programs available to help coordination among these programs, it is incredibly poor and leads to a lot of victims never being helped. For example, there are hazard mitigation grants available, but homeowners will lose eligibility if they begin work before their application was approved, even if they complied with every other rule and regulation.

My amendment would allow coordination and fine tuning of these mitigation programs so they operate more effectively and meet the unmet needs of disaster victims. The amendment would not cost any money, nor would it add another penny to the deficit. It just encourages the use of current programs in a more wise and coordinated fashion.

I urge my colleagues to vote for the amendment.

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SEC. 332. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND RELATING TO INCREASES IN AID FOR TRIBAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

The Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate may revise the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in this resolution for one or more bills, joint resolutions, amendments, amendments between the Houses, motions, or conference reports relating to increases in aid for tribal education programs, including the Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions Program administered by the Department of Education, by the amounts provided in such legislation for those purposes, provided that such legislation would not increase the deficit over either the period of the total of fiscal years 2014 through 2018 or the period of the total of fiscal years 2014 through 2023.

Mrs. MURRAY. I am now going to ask for unanimous consent for a number of amendments to get to final passage. I would say to all Senators that we are going to have a number of votes. We would like to tell everyone to sit in your seat. We will get through these faster if we can have the rollcalls and be done quickly. So I encourage everyone to be in this room.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that on the next block of amendments--we have talked to everybody who was talkable--we would vote from our desks. There would be no recapping of the votes by the tally clerks, and that they be 7 1/2-minute votes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I thank the leader. I think it has real potential. There still would be some votes that could go by voice vote, we would hope. But if we do this pressure in this way I think it would speed up things. I thank the leader for that suggestion. I have heard it from our side for a while. I think it is a good idea.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

AMENDMENTS NOS. 184, 382, 526, 338, 471, 702, 673, 521, 414, 416, 709, 154, 710, AND 139, EN BLOC

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent that the next amendments in order to be called up be the following: Barrasso No. 184, Paul No. 382, Vitter No. 526, Vitter No. 338, Cruz No. 471, Cruz No. 702, Lee No. 673, Lee No. 521, Coburn No. 414, Coburn No. 416, Coburn No. 709, Portman No. 154, Leahy No. 710, a side-by-side to Senator INHOFE's No. 139, and Inhofe No. 139; that there be no second-degree amendments prior to votes in relation to any of those amendments; that none of the amendments be divisible; that notwithstanding all time having expired under the resolution, there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote, and that all votes be 10-minute votes; that upon disposition of the Inhofe amendment No. 139, the Senate proceed immediately to vote on adoption of S. Con. Res. 8, as amended.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Mr. MENENDEZ. Reserving the right to object, I will not object, but I do want our colleagues to understand that some of these amendments the chairwoman just asked to be put in order are incredibly fundamental important foreign policy issues that you do not do at 3 in the morning and change the dynamics of the Middle East, and change the dynamics of our national security and interests in international organizations.

That is what some of these amendments will do. You do not do it in a budget process, you do it through regular order in a committee that ultimately can hear both sides as we have succeeded so far this session in a very bipartisan way. So I will not object because of the chairwoman's effort to get us to a conclusion. But I will be urging all of our colleagues to oppose all of those amendments because this is foreign policy on the fly. It is dangerous. We send very important messages when we cast votes in certain ways that can affect the balance of stability in the Middle East, that can affect our relationships across the world, that can affect our effectiveness in institutions that we need at the end of the day to promote our national security, our national interests.

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The amendment (No. 338) was rejected.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

AMENDMENT NO. 471

The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 2 minutes equally divided prior to the vote on amendment No. 471 offered by Mr. Cruz.

The Senator from Texas.

Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, this amendment would create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to reduce foreign assistance to Egypt and to increase funding for an east coast missile defense shield.

Just 2 weeks ago, the Secretary of State announced he had freed an additional $250 million in an unconditional economic support fund for the Government of Egypt. This was in the midst of the sequester and at the same time the American people were told there were insufficient funds to pay for police officers, firefighters and teachers, and even White House tours.

All of us are concerned about the situation in Egypt--a nation that, among other things, has repeatedly turned a blind eye to the abuse of women and to the persecution of Christians.

Last week the European Union threatened to hold its 5 million euro pledge of economic aid to Egypt absent meaningful reforms. We should do at least as well as the EU. This amendment would reduce, in an unspecified amount, the foreign aid to Egypt and allow that money to be put to vital national security ends here at home; namely, missile defense.

I ask the amendment be adopted.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield my time to the Senator from New Jersey, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, that money the Senator referred to was money that was already existing and it was at a critical time.

The United States and Egypt have a longstanding security relationship that is vital to the stability of the Middle East and the security of the region. Our aid to Egypt is tied directly to the Camp David Accord which has acted to stabilize the Middle East and has helped to serve America and Israel's security for the past 35 years. It is vital and it can't be put at risk.

We also have significant interests in Egypt in countering terrorism, addressing the deteriorating security in the Sinai, and maintaining preferential access to the Suez Canal.

We cannot give the Egyptian leaders a blank check, but we also cannot have a collapse of the Egyptian economy which Israel would face the immediate consequences of.

This is the type of amendment that does not consider the checks and balances necessary and the complexities of the issue, which we will handle in the committee.

I urge my colleagues to vote against the amendment.

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The amendment (No. 471) was rejected.

AMENDMENT NO. 702

The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 2 minutes equally divided prior to the vote on amendment No. 702 offered by Mr. Cruz.

The Senator from Texas.

Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, this amendment would create a budget point of order prohibiting any measure that provides taxpayer funds to the United Nations while any member nation forces citizens to undergo involuntary abortions.

I recognize Members of this body have differing views on the right to life, but surely all of us can be agreed that for a woman to be forced against her will to abort her child is a horrific evil. Yet the world was shocked when photographs surfaced last year of 23-year-old Feng Jianmei and her aborted child.

China recently acknowledged under its one-child policy it has carried out 336 million abortions, more than the entire population of the United States. Those are 336 million lives that never breathed a breath of life on this Earth.

In 1997, the House passed a Forced Abortion Condemnation Act that, unfortunately, died in the Senate. This body should condemn that policy.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield my time to the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Senator from New Jersey.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, no one--no one--in this body supports forced abortions. No one. However, the United Nations has no authority to control the acts of any individual nation.

Instead of punishing the country that is carrying out the bad policy, this amendment would go after an entity that has no control over the policy and all the while negatively impacting our national interests because it takes away all funding to the United Nations if such a member country is engaged in such acts. It would impact funding for peacekeeping operations in the Golan Heights, in Darfur, in Congo; funding for Syrian refugees, which now exceeds 1 million and is threatening the political and economic instability of Jordan and Lebanon; funding to the International Atomic Energy Agency that we need to go after Iran.

These are all reasons this amendment should be voted against.

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